Guide to Capture the Flag (CTF)

This is a beginners guide to Capture the Flag games in Sky Gamblers Storm Raiders.

Brief Description

CTF is a familiar team-oriented schoolyard game. Players are divided into two teams, each with a "home base" and a flag. The objective is to grab the opposing teams flag, and bring it together with your own flag at your home base. This is "capturing the flag", and scores your team one "flag". The team that ends with the most flags captured wins.

Getting Started

Like any of the Revo flight games, the best way to learn is to play for a while. Your first few games are likely to be rough, and you may not always know what to do - watch and learn!

Your teams goal is to pick up your opponents flag, and return it to base to your own flag. But your opponents will be doing their best to get YOUR flag and take it back to THEIR base and flag. This means your team needs to divide its efforts between bringing home the flag without getting fragged in the process, and also making sure your own flag is home so that you can score, by fragging any opponent who gets your flag. Great fun!

Rules & Details

• Your team is always the Blue team, the opponents are always the Red team. Even if you switch sides midway through a game, or lose server connection and rejoin the game on the other side, "your" team is Blue and the other guys are Red. "Absolute" names for the teams are Alpha and Beta.
  
• Each teams flag begins the game at their home base, and it returns there when a player on the home team picks it up from the field (where it must've been dropped by a fragged/crashed opponent), and resets there when the opposing team scores a "flag".
  
• Picking up flags is easy - just fly through or very near to the flag. If it's the opposing teams flag, you pick it up & carry it. If it's your own teams flag, it teleports back to home base (you cannot carry your own flag). If it's already at home base, nothing happens.
  
• If you're carrying the opposing teams flag and are fragged, the flag drops to the ground directly below. It can be picked up either in the air while descending, or on the ground below. If you have a mate very near by, the flag will automatically pass to them. If you have an opponent very near by, they will automatically return the flag to their base.
  
• If the opposing team has your flag, you cannot score a "flag", since your flag isn't at home base. Someone on your team has to frag the opponent with your flag (or make them crash), then pick it up to return it to home base. Only then can the flag-bearer bring the opposing teams flag in for a score.
  
• Like other team Revo flight games, your bullets never hit a team mate - if you fire indiscriminately into a group of planes, you will only hit your opponents. This is very useful for trying to frag an opponent who is trying to frag your team mate making a run with the flag - you can fire at will and not worry about fragging your mate!
  
• Ace points for kills, deaths, and crashes are scored as usual. In addition, you get AP for each "flag" you score, and depending on the game, maybe returning flags as well. All players on the winning team at the end of a match are awarded bonus AP. The members of the losing team (and those not present at the end of the match) neither gain nor lose bonus AP. In case of a tie game, the bonus is split between teams. AP do not contribute to one or the other side winning or losing, nor do they serve to break ties.

Player Positions & Roles

Like most team sports, players play specific roles at any particular time. In CTF, these roles are: flag bearer, wingman, goal tender, and defense. These roles switch from pilot to pilot during a match, and unless your team has a full complement of pilots, you will be required to play more than one role at a time or in quick succession. The flag-bearers role is clear and immediate, the other roles are often more dynamic. Rarely are positions as well-defined as they are described below, but it is useful to keep in mind what role you're playing at any particular time.

• Flag bearer: Picking up the flag puts a big bullseye on your plane - your task is to stay alive long enough to return the flag to home base. This means you have to focus on self-preservation and making your way back to base. Hopefully your team mates are focused on making sure your flag is there when you get there, but you can't count them being successful. You may have to hang out, hopefully somewhere near base, until the flag is returned. It may even be necessary to risk taking on the opponent flag-bearer to get the flag returned yourself, but only as a very last resort.
  
• Wingman: Your job is to keep your flag-bearer alive, and help him/her get to home base. You should be working to frag any opponents targeting your flag-bearer. This very often means coming in behind any opponents who are trailing your flag-bearer (who is probably on his/her way to base) and distracting or fragging them while they try to frag your flag-bearer. You should also be in position to pick up the flag if your flagbearer gets fragged.
  
• Goal tender: Hover around in front of home base and keep opponents from taking your flag. Target any incoming opponents, but don't get too distracted & let another opponent nab the flag. If an opponent picks up your flag, frag them ASAP, and then return the flag to base. Repeat as needed. If an opponent takes your flag and gets away with it, you should change to "Defense".
  
• Defense: Your job is to make sure your flag is at home base when the flag-bearer gets there. This means you have two jobs: 1) If an opponent has your flag, you need to be primarily focused on fragging them, and then picking up your flag to return it to base, and 2) you need to help out your own flag-bearer by keeping the opposing teams pilots at bay.

Strategy

• Sometimes, picking up the flag is used in defense rather than offense; your opponent can't score a flag while you're carrying it!
  
• Given the choice, don't avoid crashing into an opponent carrying your flag or one about to frag your flag-bearer. But if it happens, make sure to scream "BONZAI!" as loud as you can.
  
• Think (in advance) about when to bail out. Remember that the team win is more important than an occasional frag, and so it may be best sometimes to delay bailing out to make that "flag" or kill the team really needs. Self-sacrifice is an aspect of any team sport.
  
• Sometimes a game starts out very lopsided. Consider switching sides to make it a competetive game. If you can't switch teams, land and wait for the teams to even out. But be sure to drop a chat message letting people know, and be prepared for some pilots to target you anyway. If it's one-on-one (or an Ace against a couple of noobs), an alternative is to make is a CTF lesson. Show some class, it encourages noobs to stay in the game.
  
• If you're a member of a squadron, you would normally hold fire against another member of your squad. However, most pilots agree that if you're on opposing teams of a game like CTF, you should NOT hold back against a fellow group member. Otherwise, your loyalty is divided, and this is likely to create bad vibes. If you can't bring yourself to fire on a member of your own squad, or can't take being fired at by them, consider switching sides so that you're on the same team. Or leave the game & find another to play.
  
• As soon as your team scores a flag, your opponents flag will reappear at their home base. If the situation allows, try to be there (or have a mate there) to pick up their flag right away. In the time it takes your opponents to get reorganized, you can already be most of the way home with it!
  
• Likewise, if you're chasing an opponent with the flag to their home base and they score a "flag", their flag will be right there - pick it up as you pass & try to cover some ground toward your own base before they finish chat'ing "GG"s to each other! The flip side of this is that when you get a flag, there is a good chance an opponent is hot on your tail, and is likely to nab your flag right away and make off with it. Don't relax when you get a flag, turn around & keep playing!
  
• Landing for repairs might not be a good idea in CTF. Probably better to get fragged or bail out than stand on the sidelines while repairing. Landing for repairs when you have the flag is a definite no-no, you've never make it back into the air.

Sportsmanship

• NO NOT HIJACK THE FLAG! This is when a noob or wiseguy picks up a flag and runs as fast as they can with it into the sunset. Sometimes a more experienced wiseguy will get one point ahead (usually 1:0, earned by taking advantage of an early start, see below) and then run off with the flag to run out the clock. Either way, it is not appreciated and is unsportsmanlike. If a wiseguy does this to you, whether they're on your team or an opponent, follow them, frag them if you can. Be prepared for your wiseguy to intentionally crash once he's out as far as he can go, and so return to gameplay right away leaving you with a long trek home.
  
• DO NOT TAKE EXCESS ADVANTAGE OF A HEAD START. If you host a room of CTF, in may be a little while before others join the game. You cannot score any flags, or even pick up the flag, during this time. But it is also unsportsmanlike to take advantage of your early start. Most pilots would argue that you should wait near your home base or midfield for an opponent to join the room.
  
• WHEN YOU JOIN A CTF ROOM, CHECK TO MAKE SURE THE TEAMS ARE FAIRLY BALANCED. It is common to join a game of CTF, only to find you've joined a team that is already at a huge advantage. As a coutesy to all, it is considered good form to switch sides to even out the teams. So, as soon as you join a game, check the scoreboard to see if you've joined an advantaged team (grossly outranking the opponents, already way ahead in score, &c), and if need be, switch to the other team if you can. If you cannot switch, consider landing and sitting on the sidelines until the teams are more even. If you do, you might want to drop a chat message letting people know, and be prepared for some people to target you anyway.
  
• KEEP YOUR CHAT LANGUAGE AND CALL SIGNS CLEAN. Some squads specifically target (sometimes relentlessly) those who use foul, bigoted, or inappropriate language in their word wheel, or who use call signs that are offensive.
  
• HAVE FUN, and fly like your mother is watching!